United Utilities wins international health and safety accolade from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents

United Utilities has scooped a prestigious award for consistently demonstrating its commitment to health and safety excellence for more than a decade.

The North West’s water company has been given the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) President’s Award in recognition of 11 consecutive years of achieving gold status.

Based in Warrington, United Utilities has a company-wide ‘Home safe and well’ approach, which encompasses workplace health and safety policy, procedures and training, as well as mental and physical wellbeing support schemes for colleagues at work and at home.

The company’s approach is that nothing it does is worth getting hurt for, and it embeds a culture where colleagues look out for each other, and take action if anything is not right. United Utilities’ health, safety and wellbeing strategy undergoes regular reviewing, improving and benchmarking as the company strives to eliminate work-related injuries and ill-health, reduce risk, and improve wellbeing.

Paula Steer, Health, Safety, Wellbeing and Estates Services Director at United Utilities, said: “We’re delighted to have achieved an incredible 11 years of gold status and gain the President’s Award. It’s testament not only to our effective system and strategy, but also demonstrates that our people are informed, competent and empowered when it comes to health, safety and wellbeing.

“We want everyone who works for and on behalf of United Utilities to go home safe and well at the end of their working day. That’s not just about working safely, but about supporting our colleagues in their personal mental and physical wellbeing too. We’re really proud of the ways in which we do all this, from our Mental Health First Aiders to our comprehensive training, and how our colleagues are actively involved in keeping themselves and others safe.”

Julia Small, RoSPA’s Achievements Director, said: “Accidents at work and work-related ill health don’t just have huge financial implications or cause major disruption – they significantly impact an individual’s quality of life. That’s why good safety performance deserves to be recognised and rewarded.

“We are thrilled that United Utilities has won a RoSPA Award and would like to congratulate them on showing an unwavering commitment to keeping their employees, clients and customers safe from accidental harm and injury.”

The RoSPA Health and Safety Awards is the largest occupational health and safety awards programme in the UK. Now into its 67th year, the Awards are sponsored by Croner-i and have almost 2,000 entries every year from around the world. The programme recognises organisations’ commitment to continuous improvement in the prevention of accidents and ill health at work, looking at entrants’ overarching health and safety management systems, including practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.